- 4 hours ago
A fellow officer gets frustrated with the job, starts missing work and drinking. Friday and Gannon go looking for him, seeking to straighten him out.
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00:04This is the city, Los Angeles, California.
00:09Translation, the city of the angels.
00:13Three million people work and play here.
00:17When you get that many people together, pressures can mount and tempers wear thin.
00:23And sometimes a halo slips.
00:26That's when I start earning my pay.
00:29I carry a badge.
00:31It was Monday, February 11th.
00:33It was fair in Los Angeles.
00:34We were working the day watch out of Homicide Division.
00:37The boss is Captain Hugh Brown.
00:39My partner's Bill Gannon.
00:41My name's Friday.
00:43We reported in for work.
00:45We checked to see what the night watch had left us.
00:47One thing we knew for sure, there hadn't been any shortage of trouble.
01:00The story you are about to see is true.
01:03The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
01:29You're a raft of them, aren't there?
01:31Yeah.
01:32Five ADWs, six wife beatings, nine rapes, two suicide attempts, busy night.
01:37Must have been a full moon.
01:39Yeah.
01:40Who was it wrote that song, Sunday Night is the Lonely Night of the Week?
01:44That's Saturday night and it's the loneliest night.
01:46Not according to this report.
01:48Well, I've had a couple.
01:50I'm sick and tired of trying to do a job and butt my head against a stone wall.
01:54I've had it, Captain.
01:55Up to here I've had it.
02:09What's eating Maxwell, Skipper?
02:10The Halter case.
02:12Liquor store heist in Hollywood.
02:13Owner was shot.
02:14Yeah.
02:14The case got thrown out of court.
02:16Halter made a full statement, didn't he?
02:18Yeah, but his attorney claimed undue use of force.
02:20Force?
02:20I remember when Maxwell brought him in.
02:22Couldn't shut him up.
02:23Kept screaming he was guilty and wanted to cop out.
02:26Lawyer claims Maxwell worked him over before he brought him in.
02:28Why?
02:29Because Halter was trying to blow a hole in his belly?
02:31Maxwell would be a dead man if Halter's gun hadn't misfired.
02:33DA covered all that.
02:35Said Maxwell should have been commended for knocking him down instead of shooting him.
02:38Judge agreed.
02:39That's not why he dismissed it.
02:41Yeah?
02:41Judge felt Maxwell didn't have enough cause to bust him.
02:43We knew Halter was on the run.
02:45By the time a warrant was issued, he could have been in Mexico.
02:48Yeah, I know.
02:49Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks.
02:51Carl's tired.
02:52We all are.
02:53I'd like to give him a day or two, but I just can't spare anybody right now.
02:56Yeah, I guess we all blow a little steam once in a while.
02:59He'll be okay.
03:00I hope so.
03:01He's a good man.
03:02I'd hate to lose him.
03:09Thursday, February 14th.
03:11For the next three days, it seemed as though half the people in Los Angeles were trying to kill or
03:15maim the other half.
03:16If they weren't beating each other with blunt instruments, they were stabbing each other with sharp ones or using guns.
03:22The calls kept coming in faster than we could fill out reports.
03:26Joe, Bill, see you a minute.
03:32Sorry, you're going to have to take over Maxwell's workload for a while.
03:36Did he come down with something?
03:38Yeah, an occupational disease.
03:39What's that?
03:40Frustration.
03:41He hasn't shown up.
03:42He hasn't called in.
03:43How long has it been, Skipper?
03:44He didn't check in for his watch.
03:46Maybe we can run out and see him.
03:47No dice, Joe.
03:48He called in sick Monday.
03:50I sent Myers and Barone to see if he needed anything.
03:52He wasn't home.
03:53They found him in a saloon half-bombed.
03:56Too bad.
03:56We can't allow a man carrying a badge and a gun to jump into a bottle, no matter what the
04:00reason.
04:01No, sir.
04:01He hasn't caused any trouble, has he?
04:03Not yet, but I can't gamble he won't.
04:05I talked to him, Joe.
04:06I told him I was setting him down for two days.
04:08When he came back, we'd forget about it.
04:10He told me loud and clear what I could do with my two days.
04:13I didn't hear it.
04:14But when he didn't show this morning, that's as far as I could go.
04:17I had to turn it over to internal affairs.
04:19Well, that's no secret that Carl's got personal problems, Skipper.
04:22Know anybody who doesn't?
04:343.17 p.m.
04:36Sergeants Frank Isbell and Taylor Searcy of Internal Affairs Division wanted to talk to us.
04:41One of IAD's main responsibilities is to check on the conduct of all officers in the department.
04:47So far, they've been unable to locate Sergeant Carl Maxwell.
04:50When's the last time you saw him?
04:51Saturday morning, about 8.30.
04:53Did he say anything might indicate he was thinking of taking off?
04:55No, we didn't talk to him.
04:57He usually do a lot of drinking.
04:58I never knew him to take more than a couple.
05:00Said he didn't like the flavor of liquor.
05:02According to the bartenders we talked to, he's changed his taste in the last couple of days.
05:05Maxwell's not a lush, if that's what you think.
05:07Maybe not.
05:08But we still have to pick up that badge and gun.
05:10You know you're making him sound like a bum.
05:11He's been on the force 12 years.
05:13He's only fired that gun twice.
05:14How many times have you been wandering around drunk with it?
05:16You sure you can't think of any place we might find him?
05:18We knew we'd tell you.
05:19We don't like this any better than you do, the department orders.
05:22We understand.
05:23What's going to happen to him?
05:24He's got a trial board on Monday.
05:26He'll get a fair shake.
05:27But if he doesn't show up for it...
05:29Yeah.
05:30He's bought in.
05:34We better talk to the old man.
05:36Right.
05:37Joe?
05:37Yeah?
05:38You're the one who ought to ask him.
05:39Why?
05:39You got the rank.
05:40Well, you want to look for Maxwell too, don't you?
05:42Certainly.
05:42It was my idea.
05:44We'll both talk to him.
05:51I'll wait right here outside the office if you need me while you just holler.
05:54Oh, I couldn't do a thing like that to you.
05:56Why not?
05:57It was your idea.
06:01Captain Joe would like to talk to you if you've got a minute.
06:04Come on in the office, both of you.
06:05Come on in the office.
06:35That's all I can give you right now.
06:36You know how tight things are.
06:38Two will be fine.
06:39Don't waste them.
06:40No, sir.
06:42Just one more thing.
06:43Yes, sir?
06:44I want you to know I had the same idea.
06:584.10 p.m.
07:00Bill and I met with Sergeant William Riddle, the police department counselor.
07:03Riddle is the department chaplain as well.
07:06Carl Maxwell was an ex-serviceman.
07:08And, like a lot of us, we took our troubles to the Army chaplain.
07:12Maybe Maxwell talked some of his over with Chaplain Riddle.
07:15Sorry, Bill.
07:16Maxwell never came to me with any of his problems.
07:18You think it was the harder thing that did it to him?
07:20I'm only guessing, but I've seen these things before.
07:23I think having that case thrown out of court was the final straw.
07:26But this blow-up appears to me like it's been brewing for some time.
07:29How do you mean, Bill?
07:30You've seen it happen before.
07:32How many officers do you know about that have gone into traumatic shock after having been wounded in the line
07:37of duty?
07:37This wasn't Maxwell's problem, of course, but there's a similarity.
07:40His wound is of a deeper nature.
07:42A mental laceration, you might call it.
07:45Something like we knew in the service.
07:46Call it combat fatigue.
07:48Yeah, could be.
07:49Just as surely as some of the men who get shot on the job and fall apart due to shock,
07:53others break down due to the pressures of the job.
07:56Some of the men who are wounded never recover and have to be relieved of duty.
07:59Some who suffer what we call combat fatigue are no different.
08:02I see.
08:03Now, please understand, I'm not implying for a minute that Carl Maxwell should be or will be relieved of duty.
08:08But one thing's certain.
08:10If he's taken to the bottle, his life expectancy as a working detective in this department is relatively short.
08:15You'll have a hearing before a trial board and be dismissed.
08:18That's generally the way these things go down, isn't it?
08:20Yeah.
08:21We just had a thread to pick up someplace to begin.
08:23You figure internal affairs has covered all the obvious places?
08:26No question there.
08:27Sometimes I think those guys are better investigators than we are.
08:30I won't comment on that.
08:32I used to work there.
08:33I'm prejudiced in their favor.
08:35But let me give you a thought.
08:36Anything's more than we got now.
08:38Maybe you're too close to me.
08:39How do you mean, Bill?
08:40You're looking for a friend, not a suspect.
08:43Try approaching it the same way you would any other case, even if internal affairs has been there.
08:48Yeah.
08:48Start at the beginning.
08:584.55 p.m.
08:59We decided to take Bill Riddle's advice.
09:01We would start from scratch.
09:03Since we were on off-duty time, we checked my car out of the police personnel parking area.
09:09Los Angeles is a big place to lose yourself in.
09:12Undoubtedly, that's what Carl Maxwell had in mind.
09:15We knew Maxwell lived in an apartment building.
09:18We drove over and talked with his landlady.
09:20She told us the same story she had told Internal Affairs Division.
09:24She hadn't seen Maxwell in three days, and she had no idea where he might have gone.
09:301 a.m.
09:31For the next eight hours, Bill and I covered every bar, restaurant, and bowling alley within a ten-mile radius
09:36of where Maxwell lived.
09:37We batted zero.
09:39Nobody had seen or heard from him for at least three days.
09:442.18 a.m.
09:45Before we called it a night, we decided to stop and see Champ Ridgely.
09:49Ridgely is an ex-Light Heavy we used to follow when he fought at the Olympic Auditorium.
09:53Maxwell and he used to box in the Golden Gloves before Ridgely turned pro.
09:58They were good friends.
09:59Hi, Sarge.
10:00Hi, Cannon.
10:01Champ.
10:01How's it going, Champ?
10:02Ain't seen you fellas for a while.
10:04How about some donuts and coffee?
10:05No, no donuts.
10:07Too fattening.
10:07Just coffee, Champ.
10:09Anything you say, Cannon.
10:15Sugar and cream?
10:16No, no thanks.
10:17No, sir.
10:17Never use it.
10:18Too fattening.
10:19Cannon, I got a new kind since I saw you last.
10:23Chocolate orange with marshmallow, toasted almonds, and peanuts on top.
10:29Well, I guess I'll try one after all.
10:31Give it a little shot of whipped cream, too, if you like, Bill.
10:34No.
10:37Well, all right.
10:38Sure you'll like it, Cannon.
10:40Been selling like hotcakes.
10:44Businessman good, huh, Champ?
10:45Can't complain.
10:48It ain't like when I was going ten frames every Friday night, but I ain't bleeding as much, neither.
10:53Tell me, do you see Carl Maxwell lately?
10:55Not for a week or so.
10:56Something bugging him, Sarge?
10:57What makes you say that?
10:59Well, it's like he's been, you know, kind of down.
11:02He ain't in any trouble, is he?
11:03No.
11:04No trouble?
11:04I hope not.
11:05He's a good guy.
11:07How's your girlfriend?
11:08What's her name, Flora?
11:09Oh, that team.
11:10Picked her up again.
11:12What was it this time, shoplifting?
11:13I told her a thousand times, I said, Flora, you gotta stop.
11:16How does it look to the neighbors?
11:18Cops coming around all the time, looking for the hot stuff.
11:20They don't even go to the hawk shops anymore.
11:22They come here first.
11:23Who picked her up this time, Morelli?
11:26Yeah.
11:27He spends more time with her than he does with his wife.
11:29Do you know what he found on her this time, Bill?
11:32Know what?
11:33A pair of water skis.
11:34When did she learn to ski?
11:36What ski?
11:37She don't even know what they're for.
11:39Once she brought home a lawnmower.
11:40Well, what was she gonna do with a lawnmower?
11:42I didn't ask.
11:43I was afraid she might steal a lawn.
11:47You finished?
11:48Yeah.
11:50That was great, champ.
11:51You'll sell a lot of those.
11:52You ought to try one, Joe.
11:54Nice and light.
11:55No, thanks.
11:56Real taste sensation.
11:57I'm sure.
11:58We gotta be going, champ.
11:59Yeah, I'll see you, champ.
12:01Thanks.
12:02Sarge, do me a favor, will you?
12:04I'll try.
12:05Stop in and say hello to Flora.
12:06It'll cheer her up.
12:07I sure will.
12:08Next time I'm by the county jail.
12:09Thanks a lot, Sarge.
12:11If she hasn't stolen it.
12:22Friday, February the 15th, 7.30 a.m.
12:25I picked Bill up early the next morning, and we headed for the Ventura Freeway.
12:30Like a great many officers, Carl Maxwell came from a police family.
12:34We drove over to see his brother, Al, a sergeant working uniform out of Van Nuys Division.
12:39He lived in Reseda.
12:41We knew internal affairs would have already checked with Al, but we figured it wouldn't
12:44do any harm to talk to him again.
12:46Well, what brings you two out here so early in the morning?
12:48We'd like to talk to you, Al.
12:49Good morning, Sergeant Buddy.
12:50Mr. Gannon.
12:51Hi, boys.
12:52Okay, gang.
12:52Time for school.
12:53Don't forget your lunches.
12:54Oh, yeah.
12:58Nice kids.
12:59Mary and I may keep you.
13:00You change your mind, Eileen.
13:02I'll be glad to take them off your hands.
13:03You just try telling that to Mary, huh?
13:05You call me, Sergeant?
13:06Good morning, Joe.
13:07Bill?
13:08Morning, Mary.
13:08You just had time for breakfast.
13:09No thanks, Mary.
13:10We've already eaten.
13:11Well, sit down, please.
13:15Al, we were hoping you'd have some idea where Carl might have gone.
13:18I told IAD everything I know, Joe.
13:20Didn't help him much.
13:20How about you, Mary?
13:22I wasn't home when they came by, but I'm afraid I can't help much either.
13:25Carl's in a lot of trouble, isn't he?
13:26Yeah, I'm afraid so.
13:27Unless he appears for that trial board, he could be dismissed.
13:30Poor Carl.
13:31You working this on your own time?
13:33Sort of.
13:33It's nice of you guys.
13:34We've worked with Carl a lot of years, Al.
13:36You know him better than anybody, Al.
13:38What suddenly got to him?
13:40Oh, I don't think it was sudden, Bill.
13:41I've been worried about him quite a while.
13:43How's that?
13:43Oh, he hasn't been the same guy.
13:45Didn't laugh as much.
13:47Wouldn't talk.
13:48Couldn't seem to think of anything but his job.
13:51I can't remember when he took his last day off.
13:53You ever try to get him to see the department counselor?
13:55Yeah, but he brushed it off.
13:57Said he was in great shape, that I was imagining things.
13:59How long has this been going on?
14:01Ever since Ellen died.
14:02For two years now, Carl's been walking around as though part of him is missing.
14:06That's why he worked so hard.
14:08To fill up that empty space his wife left.
14:10So he won't have time to think.
14:11Yeah.
14:12He's put all his emotions into the job.
14:14That's why things hit him so hard.
14:16If he gets kicked off the department, he'll really have nothing left.
14:19Yeah, I guess.
14:20You sure he didn't say anything about where he was going?
14:23Nothing, Bill.
14:25Now, I've been racking my brain.
14:26Wait a minute.
14:28I don't know if it means anything.
14:29Go on, Mary.
14:30When he was here last week, you were on Nightwatch, Al.
14:33He talked about the happiest time of his life.
14:36Said he supposed he ought to be grateful for at least that much happiness.
14:39Yeah.
14:40On his honeymoon.
14:41You say where?
14:42Someplace up near Big Bear, wasn't it, Mary?
14:44A Swiss place.
14:46No, a place that looked Swiss.
14:48Kind of a chalet-type hotel.
14:50Worth a try.
14:51Wish I could go with you, but I've got Nightwatch the rest of the month.
14:54I think we can handle it, Al.
14:55If we can find him, that is.
14:57Are you a policeman?
14:58That's right, son.
14:59It's Carl's son, Matt.
15:00He's been staying with us since Ellen passed away.
15:02My daddy's a policeman.
15:04I know.
15:05We're friends of his.
15:06He's not here.
15:07He went away.
15:08Well, we're going to find him for you.
15:10I better come with you.
15:13I'm afraid not.
15:14Not this time, Matt.
15:15What if you can't find him yourself?
15:19It's never clean and simple, is it?
15:21No.
15:22There's always an innocent bystander.
15:451.37 p.m.
15:46Bill and I drove out the San Bernardino freeway
15:49and headed east for the 100-mile trip up to Big Bear Mountain Resort.
15:54Big Bear is 6,750 feet up in the San Bernardino Mountains.
15:59It's about a two-hour drive from the city.
16:023.43 p.m.
16:04We drove into Big Bear.
16:05It had been snowing, but the sun was out,
16:07and it was a fairly warm day.
16:09We started looking for chalet-type hotels.
16:134.26 p.m.
16:14The third place we hit was called the Summit Lodge.
16:18It turned out to be the jackpot.
16:515.44 p.m.
16:52It turned out to be the jackpot.
16:53Carl?
16:54A little out of your territory, aren't you?
16:57A little.
16:59You came up to look at the scenery?
17:01No.
17:03We came up here to look for you.
17:05How about a drink?
17:09No, thanks.
17:11Have a drink, Friday.
17:12Not now, Carl.
17:13Oh, on duty and all that jazz, huh?
17:15Come on, Carl. It's been a long drive.
17:18Talk to us.
17:19Yeah, well, that's a long story. Let's just say I've had it.
17:21That wasn't worth the trip.
17:23It's the best I can do.
17:24No, it isn't, Carl. We want to know why.
17:26Why you're throwing 12 years of good police work right out the window.
17:29Where do you want me to start, Joe?
17:31Takes quite a while to cover 12 years.
17:33We've got the time.
17:3512 long years, tried and true.
17:38Yeah, well, they're total waste. How's that for openers?
17:40You don't really mean that, Carl.
17:42Don't I?
17:43You tell me who cares about all that good police work.
17:46We do.
17:47Mary cares.
17:48Your brother, Al.
17:50And Matt.
17:53Sure, let's talk about Matt.
17:55You know how much money I could have made in any other job in 12 years?
17:59Enough to send him to a good school by the time he was ready.
18:01Maybe he set him up in business.
18:03Or don't I owe him anything?
18:05A lot more than you're giving him doing this.
18:07He's your son.
18:08You owe him a father.
18:09A sober one.
18:11Neither of you understand what I'm talking about to you.
18:14Oh, yeah.
18:14I read you real good.
18:16But all I can hear is a loud cry of self-pity.
18:19Is it self-pity breaking your back trying to do a job that nobody seems to want you to do?
18:23You had a case thrown out of court.
18:25You've had it happen before.
18:26We all have.
18:27Doesn't seem to be enough to be a cop anymore.
18:28You've got to be a Philadelphia lawyer, a diplomat, a psychologist, an expert on social behavior.
18:33It's part of the job, Carl.
18:34Always has been.
18:36Yeah.
18:37Yeah.
18:38You tell me about it, Cannon.
18:40When I first signed on for this job, I was given to understand that my primary function was to enforce
18:45the laws.
18:45Not make them.
18:45Not question them.
18:46But to enforce them.
18:48Sure, I know a certain amount of diplomacy is required, along with tolerance and understanding.
18:52The old hat squads are gone, along with the hot lights in the back room.
18:55The blue-jacketed bullies who used to slug a confession out of a man or a thing of the past.
19:00Look, when police work became a profession instead of a male fist, I knew I wanted to be part of
19:05it.
19:06I believe in equality and fair play.
19:08The right to descend in an open society.
19:10The right of privacy.
19:12All the inalienable rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
19:16Well, it seems to me the pendulum has swung too far the other way.
19:20Nobody ever told you that badge was a ticket to paradise.
19:23No, Joe.
19:24Nobody ever told me that.
19:25But they did tell me that people make the laws we don't.
19:29And that they pay us to enforce them.
19:31Yeah, but it seems like somehow nobody really wants you to do the job too good.
19:35Look, you pick up a suspect.
19:37If you don't treat him like a VIP, he'll be out on the street screaming police brutality.
19:41He can confess to rape, murder, child molesting, arson, or assault.
19:46But unless you've given him a five-minute speech that tells him not to talk to you, you're the one
19:50who's in trouble.
19:51You take away a policeman's right to interrogate.
19:53You cut off his hands.
19:57A while back, the President of the United States came to the city.
20:01He couldn't even walk in the front door of a hotel to make a speech.
20:05He had to use the rear entrance because 10,000 people were guilty of poor deportment.
20:09They refused to share with him the self-same constitutional rights they were claiming for themselves.
20:14The right of free access.
20:16To come and go as you please.
20:17The right of free speech.
20:19And those are the same people who pay our salaries.
20:22The same people who cry foul when we try and enforce their laws.
20:26Look, there are 5,200 of us in the city of three million.
20:30We're a minority group, too.
20:33You tell me, Joe.
20:34Is it worth it?
20:35Depends on what you want, Carl.
20:37If you're looking for applause, no, you should have been an actor.
20:40If it's money you're after, truck drivers make more.
20:42If you expect 100% gratitude for doing a job that's got to be done,
20:46then somebody goofed 12 years ago when they let you get by.
20:50You're right, Carl.
20:51We are a minority group.
20:53But not by an act of God or an accident.
20:56The only way you become a member of this minority group is by asking for it.
21:00And only about 4% make it.
21:02You know that.
21:03Maybe you've forgotten what you went through to join.
21:06The physical endurance tests.
21:08The psychological evaluations.
21:10Are you suited to be a police officer?
21:12Can you be objective?
21:13Will your emotions affect your job?
21:15Can you take orders?
21:16Can you give them?
21:17Does carrying a gun and a badge give you a feeling of power?
21:20Now, if you don't measure up properly to all those qualifications,
21:23you don't get into this minority, Carl.
21:25Only the best men do.
21:27The cream.
21:29And what about those three solid months hitting the books going to school?
21:32Have you forgotten your probationary period?
21:35Where you really started learning to become a policeman?
21:38Nine long months to make sure you did learn.
21:41Because if you didn't, you could still be eliminated.
21:43And after all that, if you were still in the handful that lasted,
21:48then, Carl, you could say I'm a cop.
21:51You earned your way into this minority group.
21:54And now you're frustrated.
21:57Well, pal, join the club.
21:59Gripe about it.
22:00That's your privilege.
22:00But while you're sitting there on your bottom sucking on a drink,
22:03try to remember why you signed on in the first place.
22:06It's a fine profession.
22:08Four professionals.
22:10And there aren't enough to go around.
22:18When does the trial board convene?
22:20Monday morning.
22:23What do you think, Joe?
22:25Will they bounce me out?
22:26Maybe not.
22:26If you can convince them.
22:28Of what?
22:29That you deserve to be a policeman.
22:31And you still want to be one.
22:35If I can't?
22:36You don't belong on the job.
22:56I don't want you.
22:58I don't figure he needs sympathy.
23:00Maybe not.
23:02What he needs most is time to think it out.
23:04Yeah.
23:05And maybe to remind himself.
23:07Of what?
23:09That he's a good cop.
23:26The story you have just seen is true.
23:29The names were changed to protect the innocent.
23:33On February 18th,
23:35the trial board of the Los Angeles Police Department
23:37heard the case of Sergeant Carl Maxwell.
23:39In a moment,
23:41the results of that hearing.
23:46The board found Sergeant Carl Maxwell
23:49guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer
23:51and of having been absent from his post and duty
23:54without proper leave or just cause
23:56and suspended him without pay
23:58for a period of 60 days.
24:14He's a great to listen to him with his post.
24:14The 5-day A-B-R-S,
24:15the 12-day A-B-R-A-B-R-A-B-R-O-S.
24:21Well,
24:23that's a great job.
24:23The 4-day A-B-R-A-B-R-S.
24:49The End
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